The Japanese major online store Rakuten and the American company Livescribe yesterday agreed to sell a smartpen called Livescribe 3 on Rakuten Books.

As soon as you write on the accompanying paper notebook with the Livescribe 3 smartpen, the lines, letters or graphics you write get instantly displayed on a smartphone or tablet that has the Livescribe+ application installed. The notes are editable and searchable. Also, the hand-written letters can be converted into digital text.

Panasonic is releasing a Bluetooth 3.0 portable wireless speaker SC-NJ03 that can also work as a mobile battery on May 23.

The 118g compact body has a 40mm monorail speaker (maximum output 2W), an AUX input terminal which allows it to connect to other devices with a cable and a built-in microphone to be compatible with hands-free talk with a smartphone.

Since it can also become a mobile battery with a 2,200mAh lithium ion rechargeable battery, you can use it for charging a device like your smartphone anywhere you go.

Buffalo is going to release a washable PC keyboard (BSKBU12BK) in late April.

Keyboards, especially in between keys, easily get dirty with dust and food particles. I have had a serious desire to just wash my keyboard with water sometimes in the past, but of course I didn't.

However, Buffalo's new BSKBU12BK keyboard is washable. You can wash it with water or even scrub tough dirt out with water using the accompanying brush. Letters on the keys are carved by laser so that they are not likely to vanish easily.